-
International Journal of Environmental... Aug 2018Ant Forest is an emerging mobile application platform that engages people in environment-friendly behavior with fragmented time and helps them cultivate ecological...
Ant Forest is an emerging mobile application platform that engages people in environment-friendly behavior with fragmented time and helps them cultivate ecological awareness and habit. Users grow virtual trees on the platform with the energy saved from daily low-carbon activities, and Ant Forest plants real saplings in desertified areas when the "trees" become big enough. Facilitating the public's participation in such green welfare, Ant Forest is a new-generation persuasive system with functions like social media and gamification. In addition to perceived persuasiveness in the existing literature, this study includes sense of achievement and perceived entertainment as extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, respectively, to explain people's continuous use of such a system and consequent behavior change. The results of a survey suggest that primary task support, perceived credibility, and perceived social support associated with Ant Forest positively affect the user's continuance intention through the mediation of perceived persuasiveness, sense of achievement, and perceiving entertaining. Furthermore, perceived persuasiveness and continuance intention lead to ultimate behavior change. The findings suggest the importance of both persuasive and motivational considerations in the implementation of new-generation persuasive systems to make them effective in the long run.
Topics: Achievement; Humans; Intention; Life Style; Mobile Applications; Motivation; Persuasive Communication; Social Behavior; Social Support; Trees
PubMed: 30142899
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15091819 -
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services... Apr 2020Purpose Persuasive communication skills are vital for achieving success in school, at work, and in social relationships. To facilitate assessment of persuasive...
Purpose Persuasive communication skills are vital for achieving success in school, at work, and in social relationships. To facilitate assessment of persuasive discourse, we developed a clinically feasible persuasive speaking protocol and used it to compile a database of language samples. This database allowed us to describe the properties of adolescents' persuasive speaking skills. Method We collected spoken language samples from 179 typically developing students in Grades 8-12, recruited from the United States and Australia. Participants were asked to persuade an authority figure to make a change in a rule or policy. Results Language performance data reflecting both microstructural and macrostructural properties of spoken language were summarized and broken down by grade. We completed a factor analysis that documented three latent variables (syntax, discourse difficulties, and content). To test the validity of the persuasive measures, a subset of the participants completed an additional battery of assessments, which revealed weak to moderate relationships between the persuasive measures, general language ability, and working memory. There was no significant relationship between the persuasive language measures and an assessment of personality. Conclusion Our persuasive language sampling protocol facilitated the collection of valid language performance data. The summary data can be used as benchmarks for clinical evaluations of adolescents suspected of having language difficulties.
Topics: Adolescent; Australia; Child; Female; Humans; Language; Language Development Disorders; Language Tests; Male; Persuasive Communication; Schools; Students; United States
PubMed: 32160101
DOI: 10.1044/2019_LSHSS-19-00078 -
Journal of Health Communication Apr 2022Guided by narrative engagement theory and social cognitive theory, the present study investigates effects of narrative persuasion and peer communication on Nicaraguan...
Testing Narrative Persuasion of a Culturally Grounded, School-Based "Dale Se REAL" Entertainment-Education Intervention and Peer Communication on Nicaraguan Adolescent Substance Use.
Guided by narrative engagement theory and social cognitive theory, the present study investigates effects of narrative persuasion and peer communication on Nicaraguan adolescent substance use. Eighth-grade students in Nicaragua were recruited to participate in the culturally grounded, school-based prevention intervention and to watch five entertainment-education intervention videos that teach drug refusal communication strategies. Using the cross-sectional survey ( = 224), a path analysis was run to examine the mediated moderation effects of narrative engagement (e.g., interest, realism, and identification with main characters) and peer communication about the intervention videos (e.g., frequency and valence of communication) on adolescent refusal self-efficacy and substance use behaviors. Results revealed that realism was significantly related to adolescent refusal self-efficacy and frequent peer communication moderated the association between refusal self-efficacy and the past 30-day marijuana use. Findings suggest that health communication scholars should take into consideration social factors and cultural contexts for adolescent substance use prevention research.
Topics: Adolescent; Communication; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Peer Group; Persuasive Communication; Substance-Related Disorders
PubMed: 35722984
DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2022.2090030 -
Journal of Evaluation in Clinical... Jun 2015This article reviews the ethics of rhetoric in critical care. Rational appeals in critical care fail to move patients or surrogates to a better course of action. Appeals... (Review)
Review
This article reviews the ethics of rhetoric in critical care. Rational appeals in critical care fail to move patients or surrogates to a better course of action. Appeals to their emotions are considered illegitimate because they may preclude autonomous choice. This article discusses whether it is always unethical to change someone's beliefs, whether persuasive communication is inherently harmful and whether it leaves no space for voluntariness. To answer these questions, the article engages with Aristotle's work, Rhetoric. In considering whether there is a place for emotionally charged messages in a patient-provider relationship, the article intends to delineate the nature of this relationship and describe the duties this relationship implies. The article presents examples of persuasive communication used in critical care and discusses whether providers may have a duty to persuade patients. This duty is supported by the fact that doctors often influence patients' and families' choices by framing presented options. Doctors should assume responsibility in recognizing these personal and contextual influences that may influence the medical choices of their patients. They should attempt to modify these contextual factors and biases in a way that would assist patients and families in reaching the desired outcomes. The opening sections surveyed a number of definitions found in relevant literature and outlined some of the concepts included in the proposed definition. This definition helps to distinguish instances of persuasion from cases of manipulation, coercion and deception. Considering the fact that patients and families often make irrational decisions and the fact that doctors inadvertently influence their choices, the article suggested that persuasion can be a positive tool in medical communication. When patients or families clearly do not understand the risks or make decisions that contradict their long-term goals, persuasion can be used as a positive influence.
Topics: Choice Behavior; Critical Care; Ethics, Medical; Humans; Personal Autonomy; Persuasive Communication; Physician-Patient Relations
PubMed: 25833064
DOI: 10.1111/jep.12356 -
Elements of logic, rhetoric and eristic for expert witnesses giving oral opinions at court hearings.Psychiatria Polska Oct 2018The aim of this article is to provide expert witnesses, especially psychiatrists, other physicians, as well as psychologists, with basic information on logic, rhetoric... (Review)
Review
The aim of this article is to provide expert witnesses, especially psychiatrists, other physicians, as well as psychologists, with basic information on logic, rhetoric and eristic, useful in their professional practice. The reason is that these skills, undoubtedly belonging to the classical education, are not standard elements of teaching professionals in the fields mentioned above. Having the expert knowledge, ability to diagnose, to conduct a therapy and to prognosticate does not indicate the ability to conduct effective arguments. This work is based on Cardijin's method (See - Judge - Act). It sometimes happens that a well-prepared expert opinion (psychiatric and psychological) is discredited for non-substantive reasons due to some eristic and rhetorical tricks. Having such experiences, some expert witnesses resign from giving opinions. To help avoid such situations, this work presents the most important definitions of logic, rhetoric and eristic. Examples of propositional calculus, selected models of reasoning, rhetorical figures and eristic tricks can be used in presenting professional expertise. These examples are accompanied by propositions of responses to arguments used by persons willing to discredit expert witnesses' opinions. Furthermore, this work offers a scheme of answering questions and doubts of the parties in court hearings.
Topics: Criminal Psychology; Expert Testimony; Forensic Psychiatry; Humans; Persuasive Communication; Practice, Psychological; Psychiatry
PubMed: 30584824
DOI: 10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/68768 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2020Good hand hygiene is necessary to control and prevent infections, but many children do not adequately wash their hands. While there are classroom communications targeted...
Good hand hygiene is necessary to control and prevent infections, but many children do not adequately wash their hands. While there are classroom communications targeted at children, the toilet space, the location of many hand hygiene activities, is neglected. This paper describes an initial evaluation of "123" persuasive space graphics (images and messages integrated within an architectural environment that encourage specific actions). The effectiveness (whether hand hygiene improves) and efficiency (the ease with which a setting can adopt and implement an intervention) is evaluated in three UK schools and one museum. Five evaluations (participant demographic, handwashing frequency, handwashing quality, design persuasiveness, stakeholder views) were conducted. In the school settings, persuasive space graphics increased the quality and frequency of handwashing. In the museum setting, frequency of handwashing slightly increased. In all settings children found the graphics persuasive, and stakeholders also believed them to be effective. Stakeholders considered persuasive space graphics a low-cost and time-efficient way to communicate. It can be concluded that persuasive space graphics are effective in increasing hand hygiene, particularly in school settings where children have a longer exposure to the graphics. Persuasive space graphics are also an efficient low-cost means of communicating hand hygiene.
Topics: Audiovisual Aids; Child; Female; Hand Disinfection; Hand Hygiene; Health Communication; Humans; Male; Persuasive Communication; Schools; United Kingdom
PubMed: 32244287
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17072351 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Feb 2023Affective and cognitive information conveyed by persuasive stimuli is evaluated and integrated by individuals according to their behavioral predispositions. However, the...
Affective and cognitive information conveyed by persuasive stimuli is evaluated and integrated by individuals according to their behavioral predispositions. However, the neurocognitive structure that supports persuasion based on either affective or cognitive content is poorly understood. Here, we examine the neural and behavioral processes supporting choices based on affective and cognitive persuasion by integrating 4 information processing features: intrinsic brain connectivity, stimulus-evoked brain activity, intrinsic affective-cognitive orientation, and explicit target evaluations. We found that the intrinsic cross-network connections of a multimodal fronto-parietal network are associated with individual affective-cognitive orientation. Moreover, using a cross-validated classifier, we found that individuals' intrinsic brain-behavioral dimensions, such as affective-cognitive orientation and intrinsic brain connectivity, can predict individual choices between affective and cognitive targets. Our findings show that affective- and cognitive-based choices rely on multiple sources, including behavioral orientation, stimulus evaluation, and intrinsic functional brain architecture.
Topics: Humans; Persuasive Communication; Brain; Cognition; Brain Mapping; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 35661202
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac213 -
BMC Medical Education Mar 2020Across the world, local standards provide doctors with a backbone of professional attitudes that must be embodied across their practice. However, educational approaches...
BACKGROUND
Across the world, local standards provide doctors with a backbone of professional attitudes that must be embodied across their practice. However, educational approaches to develop attitudes are undermined by the lack of a theoretical framework. Our research explored the ways in which the General Medical Council's (GMC) programme of preventative educational workshops (the Duties of a Doctor programme) attempted to influence doctors' professional attitudes and examined how persuasive communication theory can advance understandings of professionalism education.
METHODS
This qualitative study comprised 15 ethnographic observations of the GMC's programme of preventative educational workshops at seven locations across England, as well as qualitative interviews with 55 postgraduate doctors ranging in experience from junior trainees to senior consultants. The sample was purposefully chosen to include various geographic locations, different programme facilitators and doctors, who varied by seniority. Data collection occurred between March to December 2017. Thematic analysis was undertaken inductively, with meaning flowing from the data, and deductively, guided by persuasive communication theory.
RESULTS
The source (educator); the message (content); and the audience (participants) were revealed as key influences on the persuasiveness of the intervention. Educators established a high degree of credibility amongst doctors and worked to build rapport. Their message was persuasive, in that it drew on rational and emotional communicative techniques and made use of both statistical and narrative evidence. Importantly, the workshops were interactive, which allowed doctors to engage with the message and thus increased its persuasiveness.
CONCLUSIONS
This study extends the literature by providing a theoretically-informed understanding of an educational intervention aimed at promoting professionalism, examining it through the lens of persuasive communication. Within the context of interactive programmes that allow doctors to discuss real life examples of professional dilemmas, educators can impact on doctors' professional attitudes by drawing on persuasive communication techniques to enhance their credibility to demonstrate expertise, by building rapport and by making use of rational and emotional appeals.
Topics: Attitude of Health Personnel; Education, Medical, Continuing; England; Female; Humans; Male; Persuasive Communication; Professionalism; Qualitative Research
PubMed: 32178669
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-020-1993-0 -
Psychology & Health 2015The purpose of the present study was to examine, using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) combined with a self-regulatory behaviour change approach, whether... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
The purpose of the present study was to examine, using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) combined with a self-regulatory behaviour change approach, whether persuasive communication based on adolescents' salient beliefs (SBCondition) and planning (PCondition) could promote the intention and physical activity (PA) behaviour of low-active adolescents participating in less than 1 h/day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The protocol tested the effectiveness of two strategies used separately (i.e. SBC or PC) or in combination (i.e. CC = NSBC-SBC-PC) compared to a group receiving a message based on non-salient beliefs (NSBCondition). The 116 low-active students from ten 10th and 11th grade classes were assigned, using a cluster randomisation, into one of the four conditions (i.e. NSBC, SBC, PC and CC). Baseline data were collected two weeks before the intervention. The post-test data collection occurred directly after the intervention, and the follow-up took place two weeks later. Results showed that (1) the NSBC was the least effective strategy, (2) the SBC had no significant effect on PA behaviour and the TPB variables, (3) the PC had no significant effect on PA behaviour but increased the intention and perceived behavioural control and (4) the effects of the PC and the CC were not significantly different.
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Cluster Analysis; Exercise; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Intention; Male; Persuasive Communication; Psychological Theory; Sedentary Behavior; Social Control, Informal
PubMed: 25493545
DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2014.996564 -
Health Communication Aug 2020Posters encouraging handwashing would seem to offer a low-cost solution addressing barriers to handwashing in schools. However, what barriers can be successfully...
Posters encouraging handwashing would seem to offer a low-cost solution addressing barriers to handwashing in schools. However, what barriers can be successfully addressed and, how effective posters targeted at children may be is not known. In this study, using a co-design methodology, seventy-nine children (aged 6 to 11) from three English schools evaluated and generated handwashing messages in two workshops.The results were then compared with an evaluation (by the authors) of handwashing posters targeted at children. Messages that children considered most effective addressed barriers relating to reminders and encouragement, and education and information (particularly germ transmission, consequence, location and avoidance).Messages that addressed time and social norms were not considered as effective.Posters targeted at children also used reminders and encouragement, and education and information messages. However, the focus of these education and information messages was on instruction (how and when to wash hands), not on germs. Unlike the posters targeted at children, the majority of children's messages were persuasive in that they did more than simply instruct. This has implications for the design of posters and educational material in handwashing interventions.
Topics: Child; Hand Disinfection; Humans; Persuasive Communication; Schools; Social Norms
PubMed: 31088232
DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2019.1613478